


Worst of the best

by libra95



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, Lovehate, POV First Person, michaeng, selfharm, twice
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:53:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25972432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/libra95/pseuds/libra95
Summary: Myoui Mina, a girl from Japan, wins a grant to study at Seoul National University. She is in the same faculty as Son Chaeyoung, a girl who is on the list of the richest students at the university. People like Chaeyoung will never look at a girl like Mina because they come from different social backgrounds. However, Chaeyoung is not what she seems at first sight.
Relationships: Hirai Momo/Minatozaki Sana, Im Nayeon/Yoo Jeongyeon, Myoui Mina/Son Chaeyoung
Kudos: 44





	1. Day one

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by "Elite" series.

I froze in front of the door of the university I was accepted to absolutely by accident. I was afraid that people would look at me obliquely because I was a foreigner and spoke with an accent. I felt like someone on both sides pushed me and started hugging me at the same time. It was Sana and Momo, they were literally hanging on me. The girls were from Japan, too, so I was able to become friends with them right away, and it was an incredible relief when I found out that I had been placed in the same dorm room with them. "Congratulations, today is your first day," Momo noticed that I was a little nervous and started stroking me on the back to calm down. There aren't many classes tonight, so we can spend time together tonight!". Sana and Momo took my hand and led me to the main hall, where we began our tour around the university. I was delighted that there were different lounges, workshops, a swimming pool, and training halls, because at my simple school it wasn't, and everything seemed like an unreal luxury to me. "Let's go to the canteen. It'll shock you for sure, there's so many different dishes there, I've never seen anything like it," if Momo could tell you something about studying and the specifics of the classes, then Sana knew absolutely everything about cafes and other places where you could eat deliciously.

We walked into a huge hall that didn't look like the canteen I was expecting. Everyone could sit as they wanted, at the different tables, on big bags, even on the floor. I'd never seen people playing the console while they were eating lunch, but this dining room was the exception. "Grab a tray and just walk down the station with the food. When you're done, go to the machine and pay with your scholarship card!" Sana was always there to translate some words if I didn't understand them. When I finally paid for lunch, Sana pointed to the company in the corner of the hall. "Don't worry, they're good girls, you'll become friends with them right away!" Minatozaki explained. Momo was already sitting among strange girls. "Mina, this is Nayeon and Jeongyeon, they're in their fourth year," Momo introduced them. I timidly named mine and immediately put my eyes down. "Why are you so humble? Sit down, don't be shy!" Jeongyeon reacted immediately, "How could you get a study grant from the 3rd year?". "Hey, why are you asking such things, it's her own business!" Sana reprimanded the senior, seeing how embarrassed the Japanese girl was. I reassured Sana because it wasn't difficult for me to talk about what I did, I just felt bad about being from a poor family, but I have privileges, unlike others. I was performing with a dance group at the mall, and after the performance, a woman came up to me and said she was fascinated by my dance, my plasticity, and the way I express myself in dance, so she immediately offered me the studies at this university. I thought I would start in the 1st year, but she said that I already know a lot, so she offered me to start in the 3rd year. Everyone thinks it's easy for me, but it's hard for me to live away from home and speak a language that is not my native language. "You're going to make it. Not everyone gets that chance!" Nayeon calmed down. "Have you met anyone but us yet?" Jeongyeon asked. I waved my head back. "There are interesting people here, but they are very few. There are companies that always stick together and people are afraid to approach them because they come from wealthy families and act like the kings of this university. There are loners who don't need anyone at all, they're on their own. Me and Nayeon are from wealthy families too, but we're hanging out with Sana and Momo, you must be in our company now," Jeong explained. I wondered why those girls aren't sitting next to the tough guys Jeongyeon called "kings". "They're boring, they only discuss clothes, iPhones and parties," Nayeon replied. My eyes stopped at a girl who was sitting alone and was looking at something in her phone with her ears covered with headphones. I immediately asked my new friends who it was. "You're talking about the one in the expensive jacket," Sana asked me again. I nodded. "This is Son Chaeyoung, the most mysterious person in this university. I've never seen her talking to anyone here. She's alone all the time. The only thing they know about her is that she's the daughter of a diplomat. If you've decided to get acquainted with her, you don't have a chance. I've tried it before, it didn't work," Nayeon said. If I knew myself, I would never have been the first to meet a girl like Chaeyoung. 

"Let's finish, the class will start soon, and we still have to change and warm up," Momo hurried. We went into a small room to empty our food trays. I was the last one out of the room, but in the doorway I ran into Chaeyoung. From our encounter, Chaeyoung's tray pressed against her jacket, along with everything that was on it. Momo, Sana, Nayeon and Jeongyeon were all gone when they witnessed this scene. I stood there in a daze and didn't know what to say when I watched Chaeyoung was shaking herself off. I tried to apologize, but she looked at me irritably, walked past in silence and threw the tray away, and I finally ran out of the room. "Dude, what was that? We thought she was going to kill you! She looked at you like that," Jeongyeon said, laughing. I was scared, too, but now I feel an incredible sense of shame for ruining something. "Don't worry so much about it! But if it eats you up so much, you can apologize to her again because we're about to have a class with her group," Momo calmed down. 


	2. Don't try to be my friend

Our class was about to start. While we were warming up in the hall, I tried to find Chaeyoung among the other girls to apologize to her again for what happened during lunch. At the last moment, Son walked into the hall before the dance teacher closed the door and stopped letting in the late ones. "Distribute in pairs," said Park Jihyo. Momo immediately ran up to me and told me to pair up with Chaeyoung so I could apologize to her. Everyone was paired at once, and the only people who were not paired were me and Chaeyoung. I walked up to her, but she met me in a closed position. We silently started doing the exercises that the teacher showed us. Every time I was going to say something, I stopped myself for fear of hurting the girl again. 

Then we started to pump the abs, and the partner in each pair had to sit on the feet of the one doing the exercise. Chaeyoung started first, and every time she pulled up to me, I was going to talk to her, but she was lying on the floor quickly. After the fifth pull-up, I talked to Chaeng. I was sorry for what happened, I said it was an absolute accident, I had no malice to hurt her like that. I apologized again and waited for Chae's answer. "I don't care, I didn't come here to be friends. Things happen in life, so I even forgot about what happened in the canteen. Don't try to be friends with me, I don't want to know anyone in this rotten place," Chaeyoung replied, knocking her breath away. I immediately asked her why she thought this place was what she called it, and if she couldn't meet anyone here. "I have people I love to talk to and fortunately they're not at this university," said the junior student quickly. I didn't know how to respond to those words, so we did all the exercises in silence for the rest of the time. Now I understand why Nayeon said that it was impossible to be friends with Chaeyoung. I thought I was a closed person, but Son Chaeyoung outdid me in that.

"Jihyo has been so driven today. My whole body hurts," Sana complained as she left university. Me, Momo and Sana said goodbye to Nayeon and Jeongyeon, and now they were trying to decide how to spend the rest of the day. A black jeep approached the entrance of the building and we saw tiny Chaeyoung get into an expensive car. "Is she the first lady in the country?" Momo sarcastically asked. "Did you think the diplomat's daughter would walk home?", Sana laughed. I decided to interrupt the Japanese conversation about Chaeyoung's wealth and asked where we were going to have fun today. We all agreed to go to the 4D cinema and then order food to the dorm.

"The website says the courier will arrive in half an hour," Momo warned. Sana laid in the arms of Momo, and to pass the time waiting for the cherished dinner, they started watching videos on YouTube. I logged in Instagram and thumbed through an endless feed of new publications that I had missed all day. I don't know what bothered me, but I decided to watch the publications that tagged my university. In one of the pictures, I saw a familiar face. Some student had Chaeng's face in the picture, and she was tagged for some reason. Her profile was closed, and I didn't know whether to send a request or not. I don't know why I did it myself, but I asked for a subscription, and just a minute later I received a notice that Chaeyoung approved my request and subscribed me. There were about fifty publications in her profile: several selfies, photos of nature and a lot of photos with some two girls, apparently her friends. While I was looking through Chaeyoung's photos, I got a message from her. "Don't tell me you're trying to be friends with me," is the first thing that was written in it. "I don't know anyone but a few girls at university, so I don't see anything wrong with meeting someone else," I thought that was a polite answer. 

"Mina, are you with us?" Momo asked, "It's like you've sunk into yourself. The courier will be here in a moment!". I didn't even notice how quickly time flew by, but my phone vibrated again, and I didn't believe what Chaeyoung wrote in her reply: "Come to my place now, if you want to be friends with me so much. My driver will pick you up, write the address". Without hesitation, I wrote the address of the dorm, got out of bed and started dressing. "Where are you going? We were going to have dinner together," Sana was surprised. I decided not to hide anything from my friends and explained everything as it was. "Wait, Son Chaeyoung, the closest girl at our university, invited you to her house?" Momo asked me again. I nodded silently. I got a message on my phone that the car had already arrived. I said goodbye to the neighbors and hurried to the exit. The last thing I heard was girls shouting "Good luck!". 


	3. Visiting Chaeyoung

Chaeyoung`s house reminded me of the same house from the movie "Parasite", which is as big and modern. "She is waiting for you by the pool," the driver said. I would know where else to go. Wandering about a few minutes on the first floor, I managed to find the way out to the veranda, and finally I saw Chaeyoung sitting on a sun lounger near the pool. "I thought you would be scared and wouldn't come," Chaeng smiled, "Settle down on the sun lounger, dinner will be soon served. I didn't know what to say, Chaeyoung wasn't eager to talk either, so for some time we sat in complete silence. "Will you keep silent?", Chaeyoungie broke the silence. I raised my eyebrows, not understanding what she wanted to hear from me. "You wanted to be friends with me, but now you are silent. Tell me something," continued Chaeyoung. "I can tell about myself," is the first thing that came to my mind. "Come on, just tell me your name, because in Instagram by your nickname I didn't understand very well," Son agreed at once, barely showing a approving smile. "My name is Mina, and I came from Japan, I live in a dorm. I guess that's it, I don't know what else to tell about myself, I'm not an interesting person," I barely had time to finish the phrase, as Chaeyoung wanted to ask something. "Do you live here alone? Without your parents? Do you miss them?", the girl asked. I nodded. "I don't know if I'm lucky or not, but as you can see, I have absolutely everything since childhood, I never needed anything. But I practically don't see my parents, sometimes I even forget about their existence," Chaeyoung spoke about it so calmly, as if she had already accepted her way of life, "The whole university knows who my father is, and my mother goes on business trips with him, like the wife of a diplomat. I wouldn't mind living the life of an ordinary man, in which my parents have a regular profession, and they are always with me". 

"Here's our dinner," Chaeyoung immediately cheered up when the chef came to us with a large tray. "Do you have a personal chef?" I asked. "You have no idea who else works in this house. There are so many people here, sometimes I do not understand why there are so many of them, I could have done well without them. As I love food, I specifically asked for a barbecue today," when she saw her favorite dish, Chaeng's eyes caught on fire, it was the first time I saw her like that. "Do you play any video games?" Chaeyoung asked me with food in her mouth. "I didn't understand what you just asked, but you're so cute when you're smacking with your mouth full," I didn't realize how that phrase came out of me and I started to worry that I might have insulted Chaeyoung with it somehow. "Really? It irritates my parents, and you are the first person to compliment me," Chaeyoungie admitted, "So you play any games?". "I haven't played anything for a long time, especially now, I don't have time for it or the games on my laptop," I explained. "Fine, then finish all that is left on the tray, and I'll show you my game room, I spend almost all my free time in it," the girl bragged. "I have already remembered that you are very fond of video games and food. What else?", the awkwardness between us finally evaporated, and we began to communicate without shyness. "I don't like to open up quickly to people," explained Chaeyoung. When I finished dinner, she took my hand and led me back to the house. We went up to the second floor, and entering one of the rooms I saw a real gamer's abode. Computers, helmets of virtual reality, consoles, countless disks with video games on the shelves. "Sit wherever you want, now I'll show you everything," I sat down on the sofa and started to look around the room while Chaeyoung tried to choose which game from her collection she should show me. I noticed that when you ask Chaeyoung what she really loves, her face transforms, she becomes active, a wide smile appears on her face, and if she starts talking about it, it is impossible to stop her, and I started to like it in her. "I will not be original now, so I chose the races. If we start playing something interesting, we'll sit here all night but we have studies tomorrow," Chaeng warned. 

We played until 1 a.m. until Chaeyoung herself noticed that it was already late. "My driver will take you to the dorm, but text me when you get to your room," Chaeyoung asked. She stood on the porch of the house and saw me off with her eyes until the car in which I was sitting turned the corner. As I promised Chaeng, when I got to my room, I immediately wrote to her in Instagram that I was already home. I did not wait for an answer and went to bed. 

I met Sana and Momo already at the university. They left without me, saying that they didn't want to wake me up because I slept very sweetly. We were standing in the middle of the hall and the girls were asking me for the details of the last night, but I didn't have time to start saying anything as Son Chaeyoung walked past us. I said hello to her, but she did not even turn around and went on. "What's wrong with her? You were at her house yesterday, why is she ignoring you and not saying hello?", Momo was surprised. "I don't know, maybe she doesn't want to communicate in public," I thought about it, but what does everyone care about who Chaeng communicates with, is it really important for her? 

We had a common art history class and I decided to sit next to Chaeyoung to find out why she passed me without saying anything. As soon as I sat next to her, Chaeyoungie took off her headphones and looked at me disapprovingly. "Why did you pretend you didn't see me today when I said hello to you," I immediately decided to get down to business. "Are we friends so that I could say hello to you? Do you think that we have played the console, and now I have to say hello to you, to sit in class, to walk everywhere, like in the movie "Mean Girls"? I warned you not to try to be friends with me," Chaeyoung said. "It's a trivial courtesy to say hello in return. I did not ask for anything more from you. You didn't even reply to my message that I was home," I wanted to get up from the table and sit next to my friends, but Chaeyoung stopped me. "Wait, I'm sorry if I'm rude to you, but I'm telling the truth at once so that people don't have any illusions about me," Chaeyoung explained. I did not answer anything and went back to Sana and Momo. "Is everything okay? Why are your eyes wet?" Sana admitted. "It's okay, don't touch me now, please," it's good that I had an exercise book that I immediately stumbled into it so that no one could see my tears. 


	4. The party

At the lunchtime, out of nowhere, Nayeon appeared and sat down at our table: "Tomorrow Kim Seokjin is having a party at his house, and we are invited to it, thanks to me:. "Who is Seokjin, and what did you do to get us invited," I asked. "Mina, this is the richest student at our university. He has his own huge house, where he hosts the best parties. It is a great honor to be invited to one of them," Sana said. "Yes, and Jin likes me, although he knows it's not mutual, but he always invites me and allows me to bring my friends, so tomorrow we all go to his palace!". "I'm not sure I want to go there, I don't like big noisy companies," I immediately refused, because I don't drink alcohol, there's nothing to talk to me about, why should I go there if I'm always sitting in the corner. "Minari, we'll be there with you all the time, why don't you meet someone," Momo askes. "There will be a lot of people from different universities, so there's a chance that you'll meet someone," Jeongyeon said. "Well, please, we agreed to spend time together. If you don't like it there, we'll leave right away," Sana made eyes like a cat from Shrek and stared at me. "Well, for your sake, because I can't resist your eyes," when Sana made such eyes, I was ready to agree to anything, "And who else from our university will be at the party?". "You'd better ask who won't be there," Jeongyeon laughed.

After studying, Sana and Momo went shopping, because they had nothing to wear to the party, and I went to the dorm. I made noodles, sat down on the bed and turned on the videos on YouTube for the background. I wondered what kind of people usually come to Seokjin's house, so through Nayeon`s Instagram, I found his profile, and the first person I saw in the photos was Chaeyoung. I don't know if I want to see her there, although there is a chance that she won't come near me at all or pretend not to see me again. My thoughts interrupted Momo and Sana, who literally burst into the room with large bags in their hands. They decided to arrange a fashionable outfit in front of me so that I could evaluate their bought outfits. "By the way, Minari, we bought you a present," Momo said enthusiastically. She took out a large box with the Lego. "This is exactly what I wanted, on the series "Stranger Things". I adore you!!!!", I literally jumped out of bed and started hugging girls. "I told you that she would be delighted," Sana said, "Momo wanted to buy you a dress for the party, but I offered to buy the Lego and was not mistaken!". I loved spending time with girls, especially when the three of us watched TV series or movies late, so today we literally fell asleep hugging each other while watching the new show. 

Exactly at 3 p.m., a car arrived at the dorm, in which Nayeon and Jeongyeon were sitting. They offered to go to a party together. "You will leave with me if I'm tired of being there," I asked Sana. "Minari, don't worry, as much as you wish," Minatozaki calmed down. Seokjin's house was in a suburb of Seoul, several times larger than Chaeyoung's house. "What do this guy's parents do?", I asked Nayeon. "They work in the Korean government, I don't know exactly what do they do, but he, as I heard, earns money by writing and singing his songs," the girl explained. Loud music was already coming from the house, several expensive cars were parked on the road, and many people gathered in the yard. "Are there only students?" Momo asked. "No, there are even people from the music industry," Jeongyeon said. We got out of the car and went to the porch of the house, I was very worried that everyone would look at me and evaluate my appearance, but no one even paid attention to us, everyone was busy talking to each other. Everybody in the house was already having fun, had a drink on a bet, played the console or the arcades, someone was dancing. "I'll go and get drinks," Nayeon warned. We sat down on a free sofa, and I didn't even notice how several guys who tried to get acquainted with us sat down. One of them sat next to me, which embarrassed me even more, because every time I tried to get away from him, he moved closer to me. Momo and Sana ignored their presence and when Nayeon returned with drinks, they left immediately. "Do you scare away the guys?" I was joking. "No, they know it's better not to get to know my company. We're not interested in them, right?" explained Nayeon, "Or are you interested? I can ask them to come back".

Among the crowd of people I saw a familiar figure, which was sitting surrounded by girls. It was Chaeng. "Damn, she noticed me," apparently, I look at her too long, that from my look, she was feeling uncomfortable. "I won't drink alcohol, I'll go get a coke," is the only excuse I could think of to hide from Chae. "Who do you live with? She doesn't drink alcohol, she doesn't like parties, she collects the Lego, you live with a geek," Jeongyeon said. "Don't hurt our Minari, she's good," Momo stroked me on the head like a diligent girl and let me go for a drink. There was a large pool in the backyard and there were almost no people there, so I decided to hide here from everyone. It was probably one of the best moments in my life when I was able to relax on the sunbed near the pool, drink cool cola and not think about anything. "Are you hiding from me?", a familiar voice interrupted the perfect moment. On the next sunbed Chaeyoung was sitting. "No, I don't want to be in this noisy house, but it's quiet and peaceful here," it seemed to me that Chaeyoung would leave immediately after hearing my answer, but she lay next to me and stared at the water. "Not a party, but boredom, everyone is already drunk, kissing each other. I don't know why I came here, my dad very much persuaded me to come. He wants me to marry Seokjin, and it is more for him, not for me, you probably know who his parents are, but he likes Nayeon, and I am not interested in guys at all," Chaeyoungie said, "It is not a problem for you, is it?". "Why should it be a problem for me?", I was in a perplexity. "You know, there are still many homophobes in the world, even at our university I faced with homophobia, so I don't want to communicate with anyone, I don't want to open up to anyone," Chaeng explained. "I don't care about it at all, I live with Sana and Momo, and they are dating and I treat them well and respect them," I reassured Chae and noticed how she relaxed her tense face. "You are too good for this world," she laughed, "Let's run away from here, we have nothing to do here anyway, what's the point of being here then? I can take you home, or we can walk to the station and take the train to Seoul?". "I'm only in favor; I'll meet you at the exit and I just must warn the girls that I'm leaving," I returned to the house and everything has changed here. There was a smell of the pot, alcohol, and in thick smoke I could hardly find Nayeon and asked where my neighbors were and she answered me to look for them on the second floor. 

I met Jeongyeon on the stairs and she said that the girls were in one of the rooms or the toilet. I started to open one door after another, and I finally managed to find my friends. I interrupted their kiss. "Excuse me, but I am going to leave," I warned. "Already?", Momo was surprised. "Don't worry, I'm leaving with Chaeyoung, it's okay," I calmed down. "It's interesting, then you'll tell us how everything went, and now close the door outside," Sana ordered. Without answering anything, I slammed the door and ran down to Chaeyoung. "Are you ready?" Chaeyoungie asked. I nodded. "Are we going to take the car or are we going to walk to the station?" Son asked. "On foot, I want to see one of Seoul University's wealthiest students ride on public transport," I was glad that the tension between us after that conversation at the university had gone away. "Hey, I never really brag about money and I often take the bus," Chaeng gently pushed me and headed toward the station. She walked so fast that I could hardly keep up with her. During the walk, we talked about everything in the world: movies, tv shows and games, I told her about the Lego that my friends gave me, Chaeyoung shared her novelties in her game collection.

"By the way, do you want to know why I actually passed by yesterday and pretended not to notice you," Son asked me a question, but without waiting for my answer, she continued, "A few hours after you left that evening, my parents came back, they were immediately informed that you were in our house. My father is a very strange person; he checks all the people with whom I start to communicate closely. He found all the information about you, I know, it sounds very scary, but I don't like it myself and you have nothing to be afraid of. Since morning I had a serious conversation with him and he asked me not to communicate with you because you are Japanese and now Korea and Japan have not very good relations. Maybe he thinks that you are a spy, but it sounds like crazy. I don't like to be dictated with whom to communicate and with whom not, moreover, I don't care about politics if I like to communicate with a person. After this conversation I have very immersed in myself and therefore didn't want you to see me, I wanted to think about it, but you found me anyway, and what I told you is the first thing that came to my mind". "Honestly, I don't even know what to say to you, the only thing I can say is that if I was a Japanese spy, I'd be the biggest loser in the history of spying," I tried to defuse the situation after such a story by Chae. "Don't worry about it, I don't care what my father thinks. We see each other a couple of times a year, he almost didn't take part in my parenting, so why should I listen to him now?", Chaeyoung replied, "By the way, we're here! Our train will arrive in ten minutes! How about having dinner somewhere, because after this party I'm terribly hungry? It's on me!". 


	5. Am I a toy to you?

"We thought you wouldn't come back today," as soon as I walked into the room, Sana and Momo turned on the lights and expected me to tell them about my evening adventures. "I was walking," I wanted to hide from that conversation, but the girls kept pestering me with questions. "Just walked? You were at a party of nothing, and then you ran away with Chaeyoung, we are interested to know how you spent your time," Sana said. "Sana, I don't want to upset you, but nothing interesting happened. We just went for a walk and had dinner in a restaurant," this is the only thing that I could satisfy my neighbor's interest. "Nothing interesting? You went to a restaurant and, for sure, to an expensive restaurant! Chaeng did not take anyone from our university to restaurants, she is definitely interested in you," Momo said. "I'm thinking of taking a shower," it was the only way I could get away from this conversation. I liked to communicate with Chaeyoung, but I didn't think that there could be something between us.

Continuous strong knocks on the door woke us up. "Who knocks so early at the weekend?", Sana grumbled as she walked towards the door in a half-moon state. "Can you call Mina?", whispered a girls's voice. "Minari, someone has come to you!", I came to the door and saw Chaeyoung in a dark corridor. She was soaked through because of heavy rain, all in tears that she tried to wipe quickly, so that I wouldn't notice: "Come to the bathroom, I'll help you to wash up, and you'll tell me everything!". We quietly went into the bathroom, managed not to wake up the neighbors. Chae sat down on the edge of the bath, and I sat on the floor in front of it. "What happened? Were you having such fun a few hours ago?", I took Chaeng's hand to calm her down quickly. "It's all my father! He was told that I spent this evening with you. We had a very strong fight, I said a lot on emotions," I noticed that Chaeyoungie is hiding her right hand, I sat down next to her and made her show me what she was hiding. I grabbed her hand and when I saw blood stains on the wet sleeve, I immediately raised it. There were several fresh cuts on her hand which were bleeding. "Why did you do this?", I looked carefully at her wounds, but I noticed that there were already healed scars on her hand. I took the other hand and there were several white scars on it too. "I do not know why I am doing this. It happens when my emotions start to beat over the edge, I splash them out like this," explained Chaeyoung, but I could hear guilt in her voice. I took bandages and a remedy from the closet to treat her wounds. 

Chaeyoung was a little wrinkled with pain when I wiped her cuts, but humbly endured and did not make a sound. "You are so caring, I'm sorry I kept you awake. I only cause everyone problems," confessed Chaeyoung. "Don't say that! I'm always ready to help you," I almost finished wrapping Chaeng's hand with a bandage, and she looked at me without breaking away that at some point I felt the heat from her burning look. "Done! I hope they heal quickly," I barely cut off the extra threads from the bandage as I felt Chaeyoung's cold lips pressed against my lips and we froze in this position for a few seconds. I had to gently push her away. "Sorry, I don't understand what I am doing. I just wanted to kiss you. I'd better go home before I do anything else!". Chaeyoung was about to leave the bathroom, but I stopped her. "Stay overnight, I don't want you to go home in the pouring rain like this. I will give you a T-shirt and you will lie down on my bed," I quietly took the first T-shirt out of my suitcase and went back to the bathroom with it to change Chaeyoung's clothes. "Are you going to look at me like that or are you going to come out?", Chaeyoung laughed. "I won't leave you alone," when Chaeng finally changed clothes, we quietly reached the bed. Chaeyoungie turned to the wall, and I had to hold on to the girl to avoid falling. Incredible heat came from her that I gradually began to fall asleep. 

I was awakened by talks between Sana and Momo, they were arguing about something again. "Where is Chaeyoung?", as soon as I found out that it was just me on the bed, I woke up. "I guess she's at home?", Sana answered unsurely. "No, you opened the door for her at night and then went to bed! She stayed with us for the night, you slept so hard that you didn't even hear anything," I tried to stay calm. "When I woke up you were lying alone and there was no one nearby. You had something and we didn't even hear it," Momo joked. "Something happened to her so she came here!", I grabbed the phone and sent some messages, hoping that she would answer me. "Minari, don't worry! She may have decided to go home and not to wake you. Maybe she will call you in the afternoon and explain everything," Sana suggested. "She came in a terrible state, all in tears and with cuts on her hands. I am beginning to worry about her," Sana sat down next to me on the bed and hugged me, "There is something else. She kissed me, but I pushed her away. Maybe she ran away because of it?". "Stop twisting yourself up. If she doesn't answer you, tomorrow you will meet her at the university anyway, and you can talk!", Sana calmed was trying to calm me down. "Wait! She kissed you? I told you that she is interested in you!!!!," Momo exclaimed enthusiastically, "She likes you!". "God, Momoring, is that all you care about now?", Minatozaki reacted. 

Chaeyoung didn`t answer me, and the only thing I had to do was to talk to her again when we were studying. In the morning, there was a concert for all the students in the auditorium. I noticed Chaeyoung sitting a few rows ahead of me with some girls. "Go, talk to her before the concert starts, otherwise there will be no time later," Sana pushed me. I invisibly sat down near Chaeyoung, which scared her very much. She looked at me as if she had seen a ghost. "Chaeyoungie, are you all right? Why did you leave yesterday without saying goodbye, without even leaving a note," I whispered. "Who's that? Your new short-term love?", the girl who was sitting on the left from Chaeyoung snidely asked. "Don't pay attention, this is my acquaintance," Chaeyoung answered, but for some reason, after these words, I was angry and offended by the fact that Chaeyoung called me just acquaintance. "Apparently, it has already become a habit for her to kiss on the lips her acquaintances," I do not know what moved me at that moment, but this phrase itself flew out of me. "Forget about what happened last night! Forget about our communication," Chaeyoung clearly did not like the way I answered the girl sitting with her. "Are you kidding me? You invited me to yourself, the next day pretended that you do not know me. At the party you offered to go for a walk, and at night you came to me. And now you again say to forget about everything? Am I a toy to you? When you are bored and sad, you remember about me? Go to hell and find someone who will tolerate all your whims," I didn't care what she would think, but I went back to my seat, plugged my ears with headphones and turned on the music so loudly not to hear what was going on around me. Sometimes Chaeyoung turned around in my direction, but I pretended not to notice her. 


	6. New girl

"I'm going to come and talk to her now! This is the second time she's treated you like this," after the concert, Sana was going to talk to Chaeyoung, but I managed to stop her. "Let her do what she wants, but she won't touch me," I took Sana's hand and turned her towards me. "I can introduce you to another girl, she is much better than Chaeyoung," Sana suggested. "I'm not sure that I want to meet someone, I don't need to," I didn't like this idea of Sana. "Okay, but what if I told you that this girl was interested in you?", Sana intrigued, "She came up to me after the class and asked about you. "Who is this? Why don't I know about her," Momo caught up with the conversation. "Chou Tzuyu, who is in her second year. She is, like us, a foreigner and lives in a dorm on the same floor as us," said Minatozaki. Everyone was slowly leaving the auditorium, and Sana noticed Tzuyu in the crowd. Before I realized, she grabbed my hand and dragged me somewhere through walking people. "Here, Chewy, I brought you Mina, you wanted to meet her," I did not understand what was going on, but I had the feeling that I was some kind of puppy for the future owner. "Sana, what are you doing?", a friend held me tight, so I wouldn't run away. "I'll leave you alone, get to know each other," said the girl proudly, "Minari, don't be afraid of her, she won't bite you". Sana finally let me go and hid among people. We stood in the middle of the hall and looked at each other, not knowing what to say. One of the last people in the hall was Chaeyoung. I saw her looking at me several times and hid. "I'm sorry that Sana pushed us like that, it was embarrassing," is the only thing I could say to get out of this situation faster. "It's okay, I wanted to meet you for a long time, but I was shy. You always go with the company that Nayeon and Jeongyeon are in, and it seemed to me that you don't let everyone near you," Tzuyu explained. "Don't be, I'm afraid of everybody myself because I don't know anybody but my friends," I reassured a new acquaintance and suggested leaving the hall as soon as possible. "If you are free tonight, we could go out or stay home, order a pizza and watch a movie," Tzuyu suggested. "I don't want to go out, so I like the second option. I'll come by your room tonight," I thought it was a good idea to meet someone new, especially since the person makes the desire. 

"Where are you going?", Momo asked. "She's going on a date with Tzuyu, whom I introduced her to today," Sana joked. "It's not a date, she just asked me to watch a movie," I tried to calm Sana down, but the flow of her jokes was unstoppable. "You are so naive. She told me directly that she liked you not as a friend, but as a girlfriend. But try not to hurt her with your behaviour, I don't want it to end up like with Chaeyoung," Sana explained. "I don't know how it ended with Chaeng, because we didn't start anything," I decided to break up this conversation abruptly because I didn't want to talk about Chaeyoung today. Tzuyu's room was at the other end of the corridor. As I walked towards her room, thoughts were flickering in my head to turn around and go back to my room. But I did not notice how I found myself at her door. I knocked three times and Chewy appeared in front of me in her home clothes, she immediately went for a hug. And if Chaeyoung was lower than me, I was already lower than Tzuyu for a whole head, I wasn't used to looking at her from the bottom up. "Come on in, make yourself at home," the girl invited me. There were warm pizza and several bottles of Coke on the table. "Do you live alone?", I noticed that there was only one bed in the room. "Yes, no one had gotten into my room yet. Is it all right that I already ordered pizza?" Tzuyu asked. "No, of course not. What are we going to watch?", I sat down on the bed, took a slice of pizza and pressed myself against the wall. "I found an interesting film, it's just been released, called "Summerland", said the girl. "What's it about?", I hadn't followed the latest movie news for a long time, so I had no idea which film Tzuyu was going to show me. "It's about the love of two people, but if you don't like it, I will turn it off right away," Tzuyu warned me.

As soon as the film was over and the final credits went on, I saw by the side vision that Tzuyu was looking at me, and I felt uncomfortable with it, perhaps the fact that Chaeyoung was also looking at me the day before yesterday, and then she kissed me, played a part. I didn't want it to happen again: "I'll probably go to my place". "Is something wrong? Did you not like something?" Tzuyu was surprised. "It's all right, I have to get up early tomorrow, so I want to get some sleep. I liked the evening, but I have to go!", I didn't want to offend an innocent girl, but I could see a sincere smile disappearing from her face, "Meet me at the university!". I quickly left the room and ran to my place. Sana and Momo looked at me with frightened eyes when I broke into the room. "Was someone chasing you?", Sana asked. "No, I was running down the corridor," I couldn't calm my breath away from the running and went straight to bed. "Were you running from Tzuyu? Isn't she the kind of angel she seems?" Momo laughed. "Tell us everything!" Sana sat down on my bed, and I had to tell them everything because I knew they wouldn't leave me alone. "At first everything was fine, but then she turned on a film about the love of two women, I liked it, but it was so uncomfortable that we barely know each other, and she was already showing such films," I had the feeling that I was confessing to my friends. "What's wrong with that? Didn't you like that Tzuyu is pushing things too fast?" Sana specified. "She's sweet, kind, open-minded, but she's all romantic, and Chaeyoung is more of a geek like me," I didn't understand why I started comparing Tzuyu to Chaeyoung. "So you do like Chaeyoung after all? Nobody obliged you to do anything, you just went to see a movie. If you didn't like anything, or if you didn't feel anything, that's okay. And if you liked spending time with Chaeng, then that's okay too, but she did bad things to you," Momo calmed me down. "Go to bed, too much has happened in one day!" Sana lay down next to me so I could sleep faster, "By the way, tomorrow we are going to the club". "What another club? I thought Saturday's party was enough?", the girls started to talk me into going out with them again. "Sokjin is throwing the party because the club belongs to him," Momo said. "And I'm going to leave again in the middle of fun?", I didn't want to go, because not only could I have met Chaeyoung there, but now Tzuyu will probably be there, and I won't be able to avoid meeting her and have to explain my behaviour. 

When we arrived at the club, we immediately met Nayeon and Jeongyeon at the entrance. It seems that there were twice as many people at the party today as there were at Jin's house. I tried to stay close to the girls, but they left me at the bar and went dancing, and I instantly lost them in the crowd. "Hi, I wasn't expecting to meet you here!", a calm woman's voice was heard on my left side. It was Tzuyu. "I wasn't thinking of coming here myself, but my neighbours are telling me to go to parties like this," I immediately justified myself. "Would you like something to drink?", the girl asked. "Take it to your taste. I'll sit on the free couch," I didn't like to get drunk, but something came over me today. A minute later, Tzuyu returned with two glasses in her hand: "I took a whisky and a coke". "Look, I wanted to apologize for last night, it was not the best day of my life," the apology once spilled out of me and I liked how attentively Chewy listened to me, showing her interest in me. "It's okay, we all have bad days. I was afraid that I had hurt you somehow," confessed the girl. The whisky, diluted with cola, didn't taste so bad, and it seemed like a bad idea to drink alcohol on an empty stomach because just half an hour later I felt like I was starting to get drunk. "Hey, are you all right? You don't look all right," Tzuyu remarked. I offered to go dancing, but Tzuyu refused. Despite my foggy mind, I saw Chaeyoung sitting alone at the bar, looking at me. "I'll be back soon", to get away from Chaeyoung's eyes, I went to the restroom, especially as I was feeling nauseous. My gut did not let me down as soon as I got to the ladies' room, I started to turn inside out, and it was only from one glass. 

I left the booth, and Chaeyoung was waiting for me at the sink. "Are the other booths busy?", I immediately asked while washing. "Are you dating Tzuyu?", Chaeng asked. "Why do you care who I am dating? You told me to forget about our communication, it doesn't mean that I shouldn't communicate with others. And unlike you, she treats me well," I still felt drunk and didn't fully understand what I was saying. "Don't start a relationship with Tzuyu!", Chaeyoung said in an orderly tone. "Why is that? You will be the last person I will ask permission, with whom to meet and with whom not!", I was going to leave the room, but Chaeyoung grabbed my hands and pulled me to her. "Let me go or I'll scream!", Jeong wrapped me with two hands and didn't want to let me go, "Are you crazy?". Chaeyoung ignored my words, so I had to use force and push her away. I returned to the couch and sat down next to Tzuyu, invading her privacy. "How do you know Chaeyoung?", suddenly, a foreign girl asked me. "Actually, I don't know her, but there was an incident involving her, and why do you ask?", I answered. "She is my ex-girlfriend!", Tzuyu rocked. 


	7. Pendulum

"Why did you even talk about Chaeyoung?" I think I sobered up instantly. "When you went to the restroom, she came up to me and asked me how long we knew each other and if we were dating. I didn't tell her anything, we broke up not in the best way," Tzuyu explained. Chaeng left the ladies' room and went to our couch. I only thought to myself that now there would be no scandal so that we could discuss everything calmly. She brazenly sat down in front of us with a glass in her hand. "So, you're a couple now?" Chaengie asked. "We don't have to tell you anything, it's our own business," Tzuyu replied dryly. "Have you already told Mina everything about yourself? Do you remember what we broke up about?", Chaeng continued. "What were you supposed to tell me? What happened between you two?" I decided to get into the girls' conversation because I didn't want to feel like the third wheel. "I will tell you everything later, not in front of her," Tzuyu whispered. "You're afraid to talk in front of me, then let me tell for myself," Chaeyoung burnt me with her eyes, "Remember my scars on my hands? They began to appear during my relationship with Tzuyu, it`s not the reason for their appearance, but my family. I felt very bad morally then, and I often cut myself. I needed her to be close to me so that I could feel her support and she was scared and left me. By the way, like you, only you pushed me away when I kissed you!". "Are you serious now? You kissed me when I wasn't ready for it, so you were gently pushed away, and you ran away in the morning and at the university you said to forget about everything" I was shocked that Chaeng made me a guilty. "Mina, I will explain everything to you later," Tzuyu begged. "Yes, tell her what a coward you are and how you will leave her when she needs your help," Chaeyoung did not care. "Will you shut up? Why do you make yourself look so unhappy forever? You'd better tell Mina how you treated me, how you ignored me in public, and sometimes you could hit me under the pretext that you had to splash out your emotions," Tzuyu couldn't stand her ex-girlfriend anymore and went on to scream. "Can we go back to the dormitory and have a quiet conversation?" I wanted to go anywhere, just not to participate in this conversation and at the same time to take Chewy away, because she was morally depressed after everything that Chaeyoung said.

I didn't even have time to say goodbye to my friends, because we quickly left the club and headed towards the dorm. As soon as we entered the room, I put Tzuyu on the bed and asked her to tell me everything. "I don't want you to think I run away when things get tough, but the relationship with Chaeyoung was my first relationship, and when she started to hurt herself, I was afraid of it. Once I came to her house and I heard her arguing with her father. Then she returned to the room in silence and started cutting herself in front of me. I was shocked by what I saw and I started asking her to stop doing it, but she got even more excited, started screaming at me and hit my face. How did I have to react when your girlfriend stood before you with rabid eyes and a pocket knife in her hands? I ran away. Then I had a picture in front of my eyes for a few days, how she cuts herself. The next day she came up to me in the university as if nothing had happened. I asked her how she felt, but she started to psyche, insult me, she seemed to be a completely different person. I started ignoring her calls and messages and gradually we forgot about each other," Tzuyu said while wiping her tears. "Why then everybody says that she doesn't communicate with anyone and always walks alone," I decided to inquire. "She has created the image of such a loner, in fact, she has a friend, Dahyun, and they are constantly communicating," Tzuyu said and went to the bathroom to wash herself. While I was waiting for her, one by one a message came to my phone from Chaeyoung: "Let's talk", "Can I explain everything", "I'm sorry about what happened in the club", "Please don't ignore me", "If you don't answer, I'll cut myself again and say that it was you who brought me down". I turned off the sound on the phone and threw it somewhere, but I don't remember where, because the feeling of alcohol intoxication hasn't passed definitively yet. 

Calm Tzuyu came out of the bathroom, and I immediately rushed to her for a hug. "Shall we watch something?" I suggested it only to defuse the situation. "Sorry, but now I want to be in the silence. Can you stay with me for the night?" the girl asked. Without answering anything, I laid next to her on the bed. We were laying in bed and looked at each other silently. "You are so beautiful," I ran my fingers over her face and lips, "I'm sorry, I'm still drunk now, but can I kiss you?". The girl nodded and I touched her lips. "Is everything all right?" Chewy asked. "Yes, everything is fine, only I feel like I'm starting to fall asleep," for the first time I was glad that I started to fall asleep, because I didn't feel anything from that kiss, and I didn't want any continuation now, only to sleep. 

When I returned to my room in the morning, Sana and Momo had already left. I was late for two classes and had time to come to the choreography class. My friends were already waiting for me in the university lounge room. "You don't have to tell us anything, we know everything," Sana immediately warned me. "Tzuyu told you everything?", I myself badly remembered what happened yesterday. "Yes, we met her after her class and asked if you left with her yesterday and she confirmed," Momo added. "By the way, there will be a general class with other courses now, so I want to say right away that you will see Tzuyu and Chaeyoung at the same time," Sana liked to see this love triangle she dragged me into, "Tzuyu also said that you kissed yesterday. Did you like it?". "Hey, keep your voice down, I don't want anyone to hear," I looked around, but nobody cared about us. I moved closer to the girls so that they could hear me: "I was drunk, but I realized that there is a void in me from this kiss. Nothing moved inside, although I still remember the kiss from Chaeyoung". "Of course, it's yours, but I would forget about Chaeng, I don't like her, there's something wrong with her," Momo said. "She doesn't even know what's wrong with her," I thought, remembering everything Tzuyu told me about her yesterday. 

Only girls gathered in the class. We sat on the floor at the distance from each other, so as not to interfere. The teacher left us for fifteen minutes, and everyone began to do their own business: someone was surfing on the Internet, someone was chatting with friends, and I sat staring at the floor. "Can we talk?" a familiar figure appeared nearby. "About what? I already know everything!" I looked up and saw Chaengie. "I know that I behaved like shit yesterday towards you and Tzuyu. But I don't want to be like that anymore! I want to be with you, I like to spend time with you. I like you!" Chaeyoung said. "Do you want me to be there for you every time you fight with your parents again and start hurting yourself? I'm sorry, but that's not why I came here," I didn't believe I said so myself, but I'm tired of being tolerated. "Well, please, I want you to be there for me!" Chaeyoung didn't go away. "You just want someone to be there for you, not because you want to be with that person. In one week I was tired of you as I was not tired in the most exhausting dance class!" I turned my back to Chaeyoung because I understood that it was pointless to continue the conversation. The teacher hadn't shown up yet, and Chaeng ran out of the hall. I looked at Tzuyu who was watching us the whole time and immediately remembered Chaeyoung who could do anything with herself. I didn't know what was driving me, but I ran to the changing room to look for Chaeyoungie. 

I wandered among the lockers hoping to find her, safe and alive. I walked into the shower room and found Chaeyoung sitting on the floor. "Why did you come back?" Chaeyoung cried with her head down on her knees. "I don't want you to hurt yourself. There are a lot of bad things in life, but there are always more good things! Look at me!" I sat down in front of Chaeyoungie and made her raise her head. "I want you to stop hurting yourself. I told you I'm always ready to help you!" I didn't know what words to use to make Chaeng come to her senses. "I want to kiss you, right now!", Chaeyoung suddenly said. "Do you have to do it now?" I started laughing, and a smile flashed on Chaeng's face too. "But I really want to kiss you," Chaeyoung repeated. I didn't know what to say to the girl, because at some point I caught myself thinking that I also want to kiss her. She started slowly approaching me, afraid I would push her away again, but I didn't move. When Chaeng kissed me, I remembered the feeling that woke up in me the first time she kissed me. Chaeyoung's lips were wet and salty from tears and the taste of strawberry lipstick and salt mixed on them. "Mina, please don't leave me alone," Chaeyoung interrupted. "Calm down! I'm here with you," I pressed the girl against me and started stroking her back. "Let's run away somewhere?" Son suggested. "Where to? What about class?" I already agreed to leave, because I could not do anything else today. "I don't care about the class! You said yourself that it is necessary to get positive emotions!" there is no trace left from sad Chaeyoung, "Meet me in fifteen minutes outside!".


	8. Confession

I was already about to leave the building, as Tzuyu's voice stopped me. "Are you leaving with her?" Tzuyu was standing in the middle of the hall. "I will explain everything to you in the evening. I have to be with her now," I didn't want to spoil my relationship with Chewy, she is a good person who hasn't done anything wrong to me, but I haven't promised her anything to feel guilty. "Don't believe her words and actions, one day she won't need you or you won't be able to leave her because of the guilt that she can do something to herself if you break up. You don't deserve all this," that was the last thing Tzuyu said, she turned around and left the hall. An expensive sport car stopped at the main door and Chaeyoung was driving it. She signaled me several times. "Is this your car?", it was so cozy inside and smelled like strawberries. "My parents gave it to me for my 18th birthday, but I rarely drive by myself, and today is a special occasion," Chaeyoung replied, choosing which music to turn on. "Wait, you set all this up on purpose?", I wasn't even surprised that Chaengie could do it. "I'm not holding you, you can go back to class, but you can come to my place. My parents went on another business trip, so we have the house at our disposal," Chaeng suggested. "No, let's go!" I wanted to spend as much time as possible with Chaeyoung so that she could calm down and feel that there is someone near her who cares about her. 

As soon as we arrived, Chaeyoung took me to her game room and locked the door. "Aren't you afraid that your parents will be informed about me?", I didn't want Chaeyoung to have another fight with her father because of me. "Not anymore, I don't care. I told him many times that I would communicate with whomever I wanted. I purposely locked the door so that no one would come to us," Chae calmed me down. She took out a large pack of chips, a bottle of Coke from the closet and sat on the floor next to me: "Don't be surprised, the house is full of food, I don't even need to buy anything. If you want, help yourself". We were sitting in silence and crunching chips, but Chaeyoung suddenly realized: "I have an idea. Let's play Truth or Dare, but in Mortal Kombat? If someone loses, she has to answer the question honestly or dare something. "I haven't played this game for a long time, but let's try it!", I don't know how it happened, but from the first attempt I won over Chaeyoungie. It was possible to see the shock and surprise on her face at the same time, she probably thought that she would quickly defeat me and would be able to guess everything to me. "I did not expect you to be so good at it. I choose the truth," Chaeyoung threw away the joystick and turned to me, waiting for my question. "Were you really going to do something with yourself if I continued to ignore you?", I was waiting for her to answer, it was important for me to know this so I could understand how to communicate with her later. "No," Chaeyoung responded briefly while taking a sip of Coke, "I will never dare to do anything more than a couple of cuts to my arms. But I understand that it was foolish to blackmail you with it, I don't know how to communicate with people. I have been left to myself since childhood. I want to be better, and I need someone to be there for me, for whom I could change". "You didn't want to change for Tzuyu?" it was the last thing I wanted to ask. "This relationship was bad from the very beginning. At some point I got bored with her, but I couldn't tell her that because she is always so kind and sweet. When our relationship started to deteriorate, somehow everything ended on its own, we stopped communicating. Probably we should have had a human conversation after a while, but now I won't do it anymore. Our relationship has destroyed greatly, you saw it yourself in the club". "What if you get bored with me as well?" I even liked that one of my questions turned out to be such a conversation. "No, you are different. We can play a console or discuss some movies or shows, I like it about you. Also, you were not afraid to meet me, although many people avoid me," Chaeyoung took up the joystick again.

"I'm going to fight back now, I don't like to lose," Chaeyoung stared excitedly at the TV screen, "Hey, I see how you succumb to me. Play fair!". Having won the long-awaited victory over me, she began to rejoice like a child: "Choose: Truth or Dare?". I decided to dilute our communication and chose an action. "Kiss me as you would like?" Chaeyoung suggested. I smacked her on the lips a little. "Really? Is that how you want to kiss me? You even showed more passion in the locker room than here," Chaeyoungie frowned her eyebrows. I moved towards her, my hands were wrapped around Chaeng's neck, I pulled her head towards me and kissed the girl's lower lip. Afraid that this kiss would be as short as the first one, Chaeyoung answered it immediately, with all her passion and so much as if she could not get enough. She threw both joysticks to the side and, without breaking away from me, lay slowly on me. 

At some point, I felt Chaeyoung's hand grab me by the neck. "Hey, stop," I broke off from her lips, but she ignored my request and continued to kiss me by pressing harder on my neck. I began to feel pain and it became harder to breathe. I had to push Chae away with two hands. "Are you crazy? You could have strangled me!", I stayed on the floor and tried to restore my breath. "I know at what moment to stop," Chaeyoung drank one more glass of Coke and laid on me again. "If you try to choke me again, it is better to get off me," I warned. "I love you, Myoui Mina," Chaeyoung confessed. "What?", I couldn't hold back laughter after her confession, but she obviously didn't like that reaction because Chaeyoung changed her face. "What's so funny? I love you, and I'm seriously telling you this," Chaengie tried to convince me. "We don't know each other much time," Chaeyoung immediately took offense at me because of these words. She got off me and sat down for a meter. "I knew you were just like everyone. At first you are interested in me, because I seem mysterious to you, and then I become unnecessary," Chae stopped looking at me and stared at the floor, "Well, why did you have to ruin everything?". "Again you make me guilty? If you decided to confess your feelings, which I doubt, it doesn't mean that I'm ready to do it right now!", everything was really so good, but why did Chaeyoung decide to say it now? "Do you doubt my feelings? Well, you know what? Let me take you home. Thank you for a wonderful evening," Chaeyoungie's voice made it easy to understand that she was offended. 

I didn't want to continue arguing with Chaeyoung, so I immediately agreed to go to the dorm. Her hands were shaking and she couldn't start the car from the first time. "Chae, turn off the engine, I don't want you to drive like that," I asked. "You don't have to worry about me," Chaeyoung answered. "I'm not going anywhere until we talk, or I'll go out and walk," after a short thought, she fulfilled my request, shut down the engine and leaned back on the seat. "You are so selfish. I am surprised that you confessed your feelings to me so quickly, and even if they are really real, I can't yet answer you the same. But I like you, I have sympathy for you, I like to be near you, and maybe after a while I will have real feelings for you," Сhaeyoung stared at the window, thinking about what to say. "No one has ever answered my feelings, someone laughed at them and didn't take them seriously, and I'm afraid you'll do the same," Chaeng replied. "Listen," I took Chaeyoung's hand, "Just because I couldn't reciprocate now doesn't mean I'll leave you alone. Something is going on between us, and I have to deal with it. Just give me time!". "Minari, forgive me for such behavior, I am acting like an idiot! I'll take you home anyway, I want to be alone for a while and think about everything!", Chaeyoung couldn't start the car again from the first time, she was still nervous. All the way to the dorm, we kept silent and listened to music. 


	9. I'll be waiting for you

I haven't seen Chaeyoung for a few days after our last meeting, I wanted to give her time to sort herself out. In all the time we haven't talked, I decided to study hard, especially Korean. Once again, I stayed up late in the library, burying myself in books. "I don't want to distract you, but the university will close now," the man's voice disturbed me. I took my eyes off the book and saw a tall beautiful young man. "I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself, I'm Seokjin" the guy said. "I know who you are, I've been to your parties," I thought he'd say his name and leave, but he stood in front of me like he was dug into the ground and kept asking me about everything. "I didn't notice you at them, though what I'm surprised about is that usually so many people come to me that I can't remember them all. What is your name?", Jin did not go away. "Mina," I tried to ignore him by putting things in my backpack. "Look, Mina, it's very late and I don't want a girl like you walking alone on a dark street. I will give you a ride home and no objections will be accepted," said Kim. I didn't think to reject such an offer, especially since after classes and training I just don't have strength to walk. 

When we arrived to the dorm, Jin locked the doors in his car. "Before you go, why don't we go out this weekend?" the guy suggested. "I can't promise you anything because I have a lot of things to do, training, and I have someone," I remembered at the last moment what Chaeyoung told me: her father's intention to marry Chaeng off to Jin. I almost gave her name by saying that I have someone. "But we can just have dinner at some restaurant, just dinner without obligation," Jin insisted. "I'll think about it if I'm free," I started pulling the handle so the guy would open the door, but he kept looking at me. "Can you please open the door, I'm starting to feel uncomfortable," Jin pressed the button that unlocked the doors after my request. "Promise me you'll think about the weekend," Seokjin couldn't leave me alone with his suggestion, and before he could finish the sentence, I got out of the car and slammed the door.

"What were you doing in his car?", a familiar girl sat on a bench at the entrance to the dormitory, obviously, waiting for me. "Chaeyoungie, have you been sitting here for a long time?", my counter question pissed Chaeyoung even more. "Why does Jin give you a ride? Did you get close to him before we saw each other?", the girl got nervous. "My God, Chaeng, he just gave me a ride so I wouldn't go home alone so late, it's just a polite gesture. You will see my potential boyfriend in every person now?", such jealousy Chaeyoung started to irritate me on an empty spot. "You can't imagine what a womanizer he is, every week he has a new girlfriend. Even if you and I haven't started dating yet, I want you to be careful with him," Chae warned. "Wait," I sat next to Chaeng, "He likes Nayeon, doesn't he?". "He likes Nayeon, and many other girls at our university. I never trusted him. Who cares, though, or did you like him?" Son asked. "He invited me to a restaurant for dinner at the weekend," I had to confess not to make Chaeyoung even more jealous. "I thought so. First, he'll call you to dinner, then he'll persuade you to go to his place, and then...you'll guess what'll happen next," Chaeyoung tried to stay calm, but her endlessly twitching leg gave the girl a nervous state. 

"Breathe out, I already told him that I am not free," I interrupted Chaeyoung's colorful discourse by taking her hand. "You have someone and who is it?", Chae was surprised. "One very jealous girl who was waiting for me near the dorm and still hasn't told me what she came here for," Chaeng was already ready to start talking, but she was interrupted by Sana and Momo, who came out of the dorm and met us with a wide smile. "Why are you sitting outside? We are going to Nayeon's now for the whole night, so the room is free," Minatozaki winked. "Sana!," I realized that I can't stand Sana's snide smile and the jokes she constantly makes about me and Chaeyoung. "Okay, let's go, I think they'll figure it out themselves," Momo invaded, seeing the anger in my eyes. 

"I'm sorry, Sana always says some nonsense," why I always feel ashamed for Sana's behavior, and why I constantly have to apologize for her words. "I would stay with you, but I have little time. I wanted to tell you something. I will leave until I know how long, maybe two weeks, maybe a month, but I will definitely come back," Chaeyoung looked at me with a penetrating look, pausing after each phrase, "I can't tell you where I will go. I won't have a chance to communicate on the phone there. I understand that your life goes on, but I want to ask you, will you wait for me?". "Chaeyoungie, I don't understand anything, why such conspiracy, something happened?", in my head now there were thoughts only about that I again obeyed something before Chaeyoung. "It's all right, I just have to leave. I will tell you everything as soon as I get there," Chaeng tried to calm me down. "I don't know what's going on, but I trust you and I'll be waiting for you," after my words, a barely visible smile appeared on Chaeng's face. "It's time for me to leave, but can I kiss you for a goodbye?", Chaeyoung reached for my lips, patiently waiting for my permission, but I didn't languish and silently kissed Chae. We didn't pay attention to the students passing by, we enjoyed each other at that moment. "That's it, I have to go, I have to get up early tomorrow," Chaeyoung quickly kissed me on the lips several times and ran to the car that was waiting for her. 

Sana and Momo went to study without me as usual, and we met each other in the hall of the building. "You didn't bring Chaeyoung to our room yesterday," again started Sana. "Momo, can you tell your girlfriend to leave me alone?", sometimes Sana was just unbearable. "Let's have a snack in the canteen before the lesson, Sana was in such a hurry that I didn't even have time for breakfast," Momo complained. "If you weren't getting ready so slow, you would have had time for breakfast and even for coffee," Sana answered. When we entered the canteen, everyone started to look at us and whisper to each other. "Did something happen? Why are they looking at us like that?", I was surprised. "We behaved decently yesterday at Nayeon's, and you had nothing with Chaeyoung?! I don't know what we did," Sana answered with bewilderment. "Maybe it was because Jin gave me a ride to the dorm yesterday," I assumed. "Kim Seokjin gave you a ride?", the girls asked the choir. "Let's sit down and I'll tell you everything," I bought a pumpkin latte and sat down at the table waiting for my friends. 

Everyone kept looking only at me. When Momo and Sana sat down at the table, we were passed by a company of students who began to laugh loudly, and one of the girls said so loud that I could hear for sure: is this the girlfriend of the rich girl who went to the psychiatric hospital? I almost choked on coffee when I heard it. "Mina, what are they talking about?", Sana immediately asked. "I don't know! Chaeyoung said yesterday she would go away, but she didn't say where. I have no idea where she is now. She even said that we wouldn't have a chance to contact each other," I was completely confused. "Even if it's true that she is being treated somewhere, why are they all laughing at it?" Momo also looked at laughing students and didn't know what to say. "How did they know about it? Chaeyoung didn't even say anything to me yesterday, and it's unlikely that she would have said anything to anyone, so that the whole university would talk about it later," I started to look at the options at once, how it all could have happened, but nothing had occurred to me yet. "So, do not get upset before the time! Today, after classes, we'll go to Nayeon's, I'm sure she can help us," Sana tried to calm me down in every possible way. "What makes you think Nayeon can help Mina?" Momo looked at Sana with a distrust she couldn't hide. "You have no idea how much she knows about everyone who studies here. She will help us," Sana said so confidently that I started to believe in it, I started to believe that Nayeon would really help me. 


	10. Finding Chaeyoung

All classes were held as if in a fog. I sat in a Korean language class and counted minutes until the end of the class to go with Sana and Momo to Nayeon. "Mina, try to relax, everything will be fine. We'll find out what's going on," Sana put her hand on my twitching leg to calm me down a little. After class, Nayeon was waiting for us in her car in the university parking lot. "Momo wrote me a message and gave me a brief account of what had happened. I hope I can help you," the girl warned, but her speech was interrupted by Jeongyeon, who sat down next to Nayeon. "So, are you ready for the party?" Jeongyeon asked, smiling. "You're so unbearable sometimes! I don't want to upset you, but we're not going to have fun, but to deal with what happened to Mina today," Nayeon explained. "Okay, okay, I wanted to cheer you up a little, the atmosphere in the car is so electrified that I am afraid to breathe here," Jeongyeon said.

Nayeon lived in a small penthouse in downtown Seoul. "Do you live here alone?" Sana asked, being shocked by the apartment she saw. "My parents gave me this penthouse. When I went to university, I wanted to start independent life, I thought about settling in a dorm, but my father insisted on my own apartment. I didn't want anything luxurious, but my father can't do it any other way. Moreover, usually I am not alone here. Jeongyeon spends more time in my house than in hers," Nayeon answered, "Do you want something to drink?". "We can get right to the point. I'm shaking so much now that I'm going to faint!", Sana held my hand all the time, but it didn't help me to calm down. 

Nayeon took us to her room and turned on her computer. When she sat down at the table, we stood in the back listening to her carefully. "There is one chat room where the students of our university sit and it's almost impossible to get there. Jin invited me to this chat, but I don't know how others get into it. Everybody sits under the nicknames and doesn't give any information about themselves," while Nayeon was telling us about the chat, another message from someone came up on the screen, "See? I have no idea who it is. Everyone communicates anonymously and spreads gossip, sends provocative photos and videos". "What does this chat have to do with what happened today?", Momo asked. "Last night this chat was very active. I didn't read much, but they were discussing Chaeyoung," Nayeon flipped through all the messages to show me about it, "You can sit in my seat and read everything they wrote".

I started to read carefully into each message. _"At last this crazy person was taken to an asylum"_. _"Chaeyong will kill herself if this Japanese woman does not wait for her"_. _"Yesterday they cooed like pigeons, it's a pity that this fairy tale will end soon"_. "What does all this mean? Who writes it?", I was shocked to read it, "What has Chaeyoung done to them, that they write such words about her? May I ask who is sitting under these nicknames?". Nayeon sat down next to me and continued reading the messages aloud. "Any hacker will know this in a second," Jeongyeon said. "Yes, but if a university finds out about this chat, there will be a scandal. What if there are not only students, but also teachers sitting here? Too much dirt is being put out here. And then, what will Mina do with them? Even if she goes to the police, they will only laugh at her, nobody cares about cyber-bullying," Nayeon said. 

"I don't know what to do with all this. I have to talk to Chaeyoung," I wanted to be with her right now to hug her and protect her from all this negativity. "How are you going to look for her if you don't know where she went? You don't even have a chance to call her?", Sana was surprised. "Shut up for a second! Let me hear my thoughts," Nayeon shouted, "Momo, take Jeongyeon somewhere, she won't let me concentrate!".

Only Nayeon, me and Sana remained in the room, who would not let me go for a minute. "I know that Chaeyoung has the only close friend. We can contact her through Instagram," Nayeon took the phone out of her backpack and started looking for the girl's account, "Please, find it! You are our only hope!". I silently watched at her until she joyfully exclaimed: "Dahyun, you are our salvation!". She gave me the phone so I could write her a message myself. "What should I tell her?" all my thoughts left my head in one moment. "Tell her that you urgently need to meet Chaeyoung, and you can't wait," Sana suggested. 

I took the phone in my hands and slowly began to dial the message: _"Dahyun, my name is Mina. I don't know if Chaeng has told about me or not, but I need to see her. Maybe you know where I can find her? It is really very important!"_. I sent a message and returned Nayeon's phone: "Now it's just a matter of waiting. Either she will help us or not. I suggest ordering a pizza while we wait for her answer".

We settled down in the living room on the floor, put two pizzas on a small table and told each other different stories. At that moment I was able to distract a little from everything that happened. Jeongyeon was telling another joke, but the sound of a message on Nayeon's phone interrupted her. "Can I finish my story or not? Why am I always interrupted by everyone?", Jeongyeon whines. "Mina, can I talk to you for a minute," we went to the next room so no one could hear us. "Dahyun replied! She said she had heard about you, but she warned that Chaeyoung didn't know about your message. She said she would help you," Nayeon said. I exhaled with relief. "Oh, another message from her. She wrote the address where you should come to. I don't even know where it is, I've never heard of this place," Nayeon added. 

I couldn't stand it and pulled the phone out of her hands to read what Dahyun had written. _"I am waiting for you at 8 pm at this address. I will tell you all the details in person!"_. "Doesn't it seem strange to you to call you so late to a place you don't know?" Nayeon reread the message suspiciously. "I don't care what it looks like anymore, I'll go there and meet Chaeng. I have to tell her everything. I will go right now! Can you explain everything to the girls?", I already wanted to start packing, but Nayeon stopped me. "Are you going alone to go to an unfamiliar place?" Nayeon asked. "I don't know how long I will stay there, so I don't want anyone to drive me and wait for me," I answered. "Wait! I will call you a cab and pay for it! Objections are not accepted!", onnie calmed me down. "I don't know how to thank you, you've done so much for me in one day," I hugged Nayeon and quietly left the apartment, so that the girls did not hear. 

I arrived earlier than the appointed time. The only thing I saw in front of me was an endless forest and large iron gates. I wrote to Dahyun that I was there and in five minutes she walked through the gate and headed towards me. "I am sorry that I arrived so early, if you are busy now, I can wait!". "No, this is even good. Chaeyoung is having dinner now, and I will tell you everything for now," Dahyun was very kind, she took me through the gate, and we went down the sandy road to the building that was hiding behind the thick trees. 

"Chaeng does not know that I let you come, although I promised her that I would ignore anyone who would ask about her. I guess what could have happened. I want to calm you down at once, this is not an asylum, this is a kind of recovery center for people who understand that they are morally exhausted, can come here, have a rest and recharge. Chaeyoungie told a lot about you, said that she was very happy to meet you. Chae wants to change for you, so she decided to live here", said Dahyun.

"I didn't even have time to think about anything bad, I just want to talk to Chaeyoung," we reached the building where the patients of this center were. "Wait outside and I will go and get Chae," Dahyun warned. While I was waiting for Chaeyoung, I studied the building, read the notes on the bulletin board and watched the people who talked near me. "Mina?", a familiar voice sounded and I missed it. "Chaeyoungie!", I could not hold back a smile when I saw her, but she was in no hurry to smile at me in response. "What are you doing here? Dahyun told me to go outside right away," she looked disbelief. "I just wanted to see you," I thought to walk up to Chaeng and give her a hug, but she immediately walked away from me. "Just to see? I told you that I have to leave, that I will tell you everything later, and you come without warning and say that you just wanted to see me," Chaeyoung started raising her voice and I had to interrupt her. "Chae," I came up to her again and took her hand, "I have to tell you something, it's urgent!", Chaeyoung did not resist and took me to the gazebo where we could talk calmly. 


End file.
